sharing the spot light at amherst was former utah governor and ambassador to china jon huntsman, the most moderate of the candidates vying for the anti-romney vote. huntsman has already ruled out competing in iowa, understands new hampshire is a must-win state. >> it is absolutely central to victory. central to our pathway of success. it's a state that we can win. >> reporter: in iowa, which votes first in the presidential contest, candidates were fighting for the social conservative vote. there were long shot contenders, newt gingrich and rick santorum. >> hi, you guys. >> reporter: as well as tea party sensation michele bachmann. a recent poll has the minnesota congresswoman in a statistical dead heat with romney, while gingrich and santorum barely made a dent in the single digits. tim pawlenty also polled poorly there. the former minnesota governor raised a disappointing $4.2 million this quarter and has had no public event over the holiday weekend. but those in the bottom half of that poll can take some comfort in the fact that sometimes the early polls don't tell us that much. t